Railroad grass-line and ditch cutter



May 927 w. H. REDNOUR RAILROAD GRASS LINE AND DiTCH CUTTER Filed Nov. 2'1. 1926 Patented May 17, 1927.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. nnnnoun, or nueenn, INDIANA.

RAILROAD GRASS-LIN E AND BITCH CUTTER.

Application tiled November This invention relates to an attachment for a railroad motor car such as used by section gangs when working along the railroad fright of way and has for itsobject to provide a devise which may be readily attached or removed from the motor car and which functions as a ditch cutter and also asa grassline cutter.

Another object of the invention res des III the provision 0 means for causing the automatic detacl'lme nt of the apparatus from themotor car should the cutter encounter anyobstruction which would otherwise cause a dcljfii lll ht of the car and other (3 31;111:113

Other objects and hdvznitages ()l the in;- ventio n will he aparcnt from thcfollowing d scription w en talrcn in commotion with t c accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a pan view of the improved device attached to the side of a railway Inotor car, the latter lacing partly broken away Figure 2 is ade tail view of the cutter d sc and arm which is rotatably moun edigure 3 is a section through the disc.

Figu e 4 s a detail View of a port o o h s e y m ha sm n a Figure 5 is a section on the line 55 of Fi are 1.

re er ng to the drawin i wat r d aiLthenum a 1 indicates a ra lw y ot an of or inary construction such as used y Section hands in re air a he a -be et and which is provi ed W th a forwardly exen in beam 2 at eac side.

Mounted above and below this beam are W P ates 3 d 4 e ur d y m ans o lts and 5 and a set screw 7, and exte d ing a 'ntial distance laterally beyond he sideo t wa Als fi t ndinu hr he Plate 3 M 6 roh lt 8 and 9 between which is located the bent end of a plate portion 10 to which is pivotally connected t 11 tele c pi arm 1 com r si a u 13 and rod 14 slidably received therein. To the outer end "or the rod 14 is secured a cutter disc 15 0 which is mounted a circular nife 16- hls utt dis is key d t a rotatable bearing 7 and. is secured tothe d of the rod by mean he and cotterpin 19 as more clearly shown Fi in: 3 o he draa nsn order o provide fo adius ah litr he pu t r wi h respe t to he road mptor 2 tube 1 s provided with a lurality of pins 20 and rod 1% is provided with 27. 1826. Serial No. 151,180.

openings or apertures 21 throughout a considerablc portion of its length to receive these pins 20 and thereby permit of optional adjustment of the cutter.

In order to secure the proper cutting angle for the disc cutter 15, a bond 22 is provided in the outer end of the rod 14, as will be observed from Figure 1 of the drawing. This bond is made in a horizontal plane and positions the disc the manner shown.

This .lflosition trlilil lc disc provides for cutting t c outer edge of ,a ditch. It now it removed, by removing cotter pin 19 and Washer 18, and inverted, ure 2.

It is necessary, of course, to provide some means for connecting the outer end of the rod 12 with the forward and for this purpose I have provided a chain 23, although obviously other types of connecting means may be usedv if found desirable. This chain is connected to the rod as shown in Fig- 14 as indicated by ring 24;, and the forward end of the chain 23 is adjustably connected. to a tcnsionq'clcasc device 25 which is anchored to the forward part of the car as indicated by numeral 26. This tension-release device comprises two plates 30 and 31 which are mounted on a pin 32 so as to permit movement toward and from each other, and a spring device 33 serves to bias these two plates toward each other. The ends of the plates remote from the pin 32 are provided with cup-shaped members 34: and located between these cup shaped members is a ball 35 integrally formed on a plate 36. It will be obvious therefore that if an excessive tension is placed upon the chain 23 the spring will permit the cups 34 to be spread apart by the ball 35.

he purpose of the tension-release device 25 just described as well as the pins 8 and 9 for mounting the rod 13, is to revent de railment or other damage to i; Q ra oed portion of the car, 7

motor car in the event that the cutter should encounter an obstruction during the operation thereof. Obviously if the cutter should engage an obstruction on the right of way which would put upon the connection 23 a tension greater than that for which the tensioirrelease mechanism is adjusted, the parts 341 and 35 will become separated thereby allowing the arm 12 to swing rearwardly and it is apparent that as soon as the arm swings rearwardly a few degrees the plate 10 will draw away from its position between the pins 8 and 9 and allow the car to proceed without derailment or other damage.

The operation of the several parts of the mechanism has been fully described in connection with the description of the mechanism itself and a repetition of the complete operation of the parts is believed to be unnecessary. Briefly stated, however, the present construction provides a rotatably mounted cutter suitable for cutting the grass line along the right of way of a railroad or to cut the ditch line along the side of the railroad bed and to permit this to he done while the car is traveling in a single direction; this being accomplished by means of the bend 22 which will properly position the cutter through the rotation of the rod 14- of the telescoping arm through 180. Should the cutter meet with an obstruction or other impediment to its forward movement it will automatically become detached from the car thereby preventing derailment or the like.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings it will be apparent that I have devised a relatively simple and inexpensive railroad grass line and ditch cutter which may be readily attached to the railway motor cars new in extensive use, which provides for mechanically cutting grass and ditch lines through the movement of the car itself, and which also provides against derailment or other damage to the car in the event that the cutter meets with an obstruction such as a cross tie or the like, and which further provides by means of simple adjustment for cutting both sides of a ditch while the car may continue to move in the same direction. In accordance with the patent statutes I have described what I now believe to be the best embodiment of the invention, but I do not wish to be understood thereby as limiting myself or the scope of the invention, as many changes and modifications may be mad ewithout departing from the spirit of the invention; all such I aim to include in the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a railway car, of a grass line cutter, an arm on which said cutter is rotatably mounted, and means for connecting the arm with the ear whereby the arm will become disengaged from the car if the former hits an obstruction.

2. The combination with a railway car, of a grass line cutter, an arm on which said cutter is mounted, means for connecting the arm with the car, and an overload release connection between the outer end of the arm and the forward part of the car.

3. The combination with a railway car, of a grass line cutter, an arm on which said cutter is mounted, means for connecting the arm to the car so as to permit its release if the cutter hits an obstruction, a connection between the outer end of said arm and the forward part of said car, said connection provided with a releasable joint adapted to be disconnected when subjected to a predetermined strain.

4. The combination with a railway car, of a grass line cutter, an arm on which said cutter is mounted, means for releasably supporting the inner end of said arm on the car. a connection between the outer end of said arm and the forward part of the car, and a tension-release mechanism in said connection.

5. The con'ibination with a railway car. of a grass line cutter, an arm on whiehsaid cutter is mounted, and means for detachably connecting the inner end of said arm with the car. said means including a plurality of pins between which the inner end of said arm is situated.

6. The combination with a railway car. of a grass line cutter. an arm on which said cutter is mounted, and means for detachablv connecting the inner end of said arm with the car. said means including a plurality of pins between which the inner end of said arm is situated, a curved portion of the arm extending beyond one of the pins.

7. The combination with a. ra lwav car. of a grass line cutter, an arm on which said cutter is mounted. means for detachablv connecting the inner end of said. arm with the car. said means including a plurality of pins between which the inner end of said arm is situated. and a tension-release connection between the outer end of said arm and the forward part of the car.

8. The combination with a railway car. of a grass line cutter. an arm on which said cutter is mounted, means for releasably connecting said arm with the car. a connection between the outer end of said arm and the forward part of said car. said connection including a ball and a pair of springpressed cups between which said ball is received.

9. The combination with a railway car, of a grass cutter, an arm connected to the car and on which said grass cutter is mounted. the end of the arm to which the cutter is attached having a slight bend in a horizonall tal plane, whereby the cutter may he propcutter rotatably mounted on the outer end erly positioned to out either side of a ditch of said am, the section of the arm carrying while moving in the same direction by turnthe cutter bein provided with a slight bend 10 ing the arm about its axis through 180. in a horizonta plane, and means for lock- 10. The combination With a railway car, ing said section in either of two positions a laterally extending arm on said car and with the bend in a horizontal Plane.

comprising two telescoping sections, a grass W. H. R. *JDNOUR. 

